Christmas with the Excellent Cats

[TheShellBeach]

......... Silent Night.........

Well, maybe not so silent when there's a cat about who wants to be fed.

Join us in the run up to Christmas 2023!

I'm going to need a nice new shirt for these cocktails at Grumpy's

<waits for invitation from Grumpy>

I hope that Mrs Grumpy will be consulted before a hundred of us turn up for Cocktails and Snacks in the Grumpy Gazebo.

No. Four and a half cats. 😹
And thank you - we'll see where the water is in the morning.

And Super - very pleased that Prince has found access to a new friend to torment play with.

I suspect that Havasnack will also enjoy exploring the new territory, Super 😊

Good to see you here. You’ve been quiet lately!

A little blep from Daisy.

Linney has also expressed an interest in accompanying us.

He was very disappointed when the 5 night hotel stay because of Legionella was cancelled.

How's your husband @YesItsMeIDontCare

A bleplet? Blepette?

@Catsmere I love that shirt, and the black cat picture in the background. Did you make the cardigan? Very impressive! Lovely blep from Daisy, Vixen approves.

Sybil is looking as beautiful as always.

I wonder if seeing Prince at the window will inspire the writer? He make may Prince his muse. Oooh that could be what TC is trying to do, to be Grumpy's muse.

Not too bad, all things considered 😊 Some days are better than others which is to be expected but the side effects of the particular drugs he's on aren't as brutal as some of the others. Last infusion in about a week and a half and some scans coming up to see what's what.

Leroy is enjoying having Daddy at home all day 😁

Thank you very much for asking 😊

@Catsmere I very much like The Cardigan! It's gorgeous - is it hand knitted?

(I think it must be and I'm very impressed!)

@Grumpyoldpersonwithcats Meanwhile you'll have to put up with a photo of Sybil cocooned in a blanket.
er ......... Sybil is looking absolutely beautiful cocooned in her blanket ........
but I feel she may have just swooned at the thought of working in such close proximity with TC .... ?

Either works! 😄

@RumNotRun and @ilovemyspace - thank you! Yes, I made it. Took two months, which isn't bad for something with a lot of cables and double moss stitch and 294 stitches on the needles ... Good British brand yarn, btw! It's King Cole Big Value Tweed, which isn't even being supplied here yet.

I was very pleased to get the kitty pic - there are two of them that I got a couple of years ago from a local "antique" aka junk market, for about $5, I think. Even more fond of an actual painting I got for 55 cents from an op shop. I don't care if it's an amateurish work, I love it. Looks just like two of my long-gone tuxies.

@Catsmere I'm a knitter (very amateur!) and I'm having trouble seeing how to get 294 stitches on needles!! Never mind the DOUBLE moss stitch. And I've never attempted cable stitch - just admired it from afar........... you've done a beautiful job!

(am liking the cat pic too 😊)

@ilovemyspace circular needles are the answer there! I gave up using straight needles years ago. I was always losing them down the aisle in the train! I did this cardi on ones with a one metre cord, more than enough room.

Cables are my default pattern. They're easier than they look once you've tried them a few times. It's yarn-overs I can never manage. I console myself that doing lace knitting would be a Really Bad Idea with these two supurrvisors around, never mind trying to wear a finished object!

I tried circular needles once and never again - gulp 😓 But lace yarn-over knitting I can do :)
I'm not even going to ask how you kept losing knitting needles down the aisle in the train! But it sounds vaguely threatening ............. 😳😂

I hope you'll be wearing The Cardigan to @Grumpyoldpersonwithcats soiree in the conservatory?

LOL! It would be when I was starting a new row. If I didn't hold the needle with a death-grip the wretched thing would slip out of the yarn and fall on the floor. This was about ten years ago when I had a long commute into Melbourne for work.

What about circulars gives you trouble? They're another thing that takes a bit of getting used to.

ETA but of course I'll wear The Cardigan, at least if it's reasonably cool weather! 😆

If I didn't hold the needle with a death-grip the wretched thing would slip out of the yarn and fall on the floor.
Yeah? I was imagining more of an international spy drama scenario and your casual explanation of I was always losing them down the aisle in the train! was some sort of euphemism for god-only-knows-what! 😂

I could never get my head round circular needles for some reason - same way I can't get my head round crocheting (something I'd like to be able to do) - I suppose it's just what you're used to?

Am now wondering about what to wear to The Soiree to be suitably dressed - do you think we'll need full gauntlets if TC's going to be there??! Can you start knitting lots of pairs just in case ........... 😬

I doubt any gloves I made (if I knew how) would be claw-proof! 😆

The main thing with circulars is not having cords that are so long they get in the way. Otherwise it's the same as using straights, for working flat (I don't much like knitting in the round, it changes the tension).

I didn't know you can use circular needles to knit flat like on straight needles?! It's the knitting 'in the round' that confuses me.
So, can you can just follow an ordinary straight knitting pattern on circular needles and treat them as straight needles??

Yes! That's why I started using them. 👍

I am more than proficient at darning and sewing (31 but yes, we were taught at school and I continued to develop my knowledge and am the only person I know of my age capable of even repairing a button that’s been torn off). Never got the hang of knitting though. Huge hats off to those who can! Let alone who can with a ball of wool, some needles and some inquisitive furry paws somewhere nearby…

I may not be up to arriving at Grumpy’s but I feel Velvet will happily swim there.
Speaking of, she has recently arrived at my bed at while point I covered her with a dressing gown. Which was rewarded with much purring. You can just see a little ear poking out. She’s such a darling. I feel like she’d love to meet some of your boys and girls although would have some difficulties explaining “running around very fast biting inanimate objects is very fun” to another cat given that she’s trying to give me the State of the Union Address in cat every day and I’m probably meowing back “suit of armour” “piano”, “yes, we shall be dancing with llamas” and “I’m sorry you took such a personal dislike to Herbert Hoover”

I feel like she’d love to meet some of your boys and girls although would have some difficulties explaining “running around very fast biting inanimate objects is very fun” to another cat

Nah - Leroy would be well up for that. Animate, inanimate, whatevs 😂

I fear @Catsmere may have to knit a job lot of swimming costumes prior to the event.

Gardens are so passé nowadays - who needs one? 😲

Family house where I lived for the first 30 something years was on the side of a hill. We were on the uphill side of the road, with the garage built into the hill under the house. The house opposite was where the land leveled out and also had their garage dug under the house. There was some serious rainfall some time in the 70's and I remember looking at the water over half way up their garage doors. They also had a sort of cellar/storage space leading away from the garage, both were flooded by the water coming through the doors.

I was probably A Bad Person thinking amused thoughts about their Jensen Interceptor and Jag being a bit soggy 😈

My mother was a fabulous knitter. We went to Canada when I was about 3 to stay with an uncle, and she saw the amazing knitted jackets they had there and brought the patterns home. This kind of thing, though hers were all lined as well. She was also into knitting Aran type jumpers.